Last updated on October 16th, 2018 at 07:41 am
Want how to start creating passive income online without waiting months for Google and Pinterest to send you traffic? Yes, it’s possible and all it takes is sharing Pinterest affiliate links. Well, it takes a little more, but don’t worry, I’m going to share everything with.
I’ll also point you to a wonderful resource that will show you exactly what you need to do to get started. Don’t worry it’s not as hard as you might think. When I first got started with Pinterest, I had no clue you could bypass creating content and just create affiliate pins and link directly to the products.
It wasn’t until I came across the How to Make Your First Affiliate Sale in 24 Hours eBook by Elise at House of Brazen Blog that I started understanding how it all worked.
No, I’m not new to affiliate marketing, but I didn’t quite understand how the social platform worked and what was and wasn’t allowed. The last thing I wanted to do was break any rules and get banned.
Did It Work?
It’s not uncommon to hear all kinds of hype when it comes to making money online. Me, I’m not the kind of person to take someone’s word for something. Instead, I rolled up my sleeves to see if I could learn how to drive traffic to affiliate links using Pinterest.
Well guess what? I did make a few sales, although it took me more than 24 hours to make my first affiliate sale using this method. But it works and while I don’t focus completely on this method, I do make it a point to create some affiliate pins every now and then.
If you’re ready to learn how it works and what you need to know so you don’t get banned by Pinterest, make sure that you read this entire post. Then don’t forget to pick up the eBook to walk you through step by step on how to do it.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is nothing more than being the middleman or woman and making a commission or flat fee on whatever someone buys from you. Think of as being a salesperson in the real world.
If you sold Cutco Knives (which I absolutely love) you would get paid a commission for every set of knives or knife that someone buys from you. This is how affiliate marketing works.
Every network is different and some pay more than others. So make sure that you understand how much you’ll be paid and join the ones that are actually worth promoting.
Related: 9 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers
Once you get accepted you’ll be given a unique ID. Make sure that whenever you’re promoting adding links to Pinterest you’re using your unique URL. Otherwise, you won’t get credit whenever someone buys from you.
Oh, and when you’re using your affiliate links on your blog, you want to make sure that you’re cloaking them and making them nofollow. (but that only applies to your blog)
What You Need to Know About Pinterest Affiliate Links
The most important thing before you start promoting affiliate links on Pinterest, is you don’t want to spam. It still amazes me how many people I see spamming their links everywhere.
I know you want to make sales, heck, who doesn’t. But think about it, what do you do whenever someone continually spams you? Chances are you block that person or unsubscribe from their email list.
You won’t build a full-time income by spamming your links everywhere. Instead, focus on creating amazing pins and getting them into the Pinterest search feed. I personally use Tailwind so I don’t spend all day pinning manually.
How Does It Work On Pinterest?
Pinterest allows pinners to add affiliate links directly to their platform. This is great news because now people don’t have to visit your blog and then go to your affiliate link.
This means that you can market your links directly to over 200 million active Pinterest directly without sending them to your blog first. The best part is that you can promote them for free. Who really wants to spend money on marketing? Not me, at least not right now.
How Do They Look?
The funny thing is that people who have no clue what affiliate marketing click on your links and they may not even realize it. You have probably clicked on links from bloggers that lead to different affiliate products.
They don’t look any different than any other pin. Here’s the difference instead of linking to your blog post, they’ll link to your affiliate link.
When someone clicks on it they get taken directly to your unique affiliate link. It’s so easy to promote products from ShareASale, which is a great network that has tons of products regardless of your blog niche. Other networks you can check out are; Wayfair, Ebates and SiteGround hosting.
Types of Products to Promote
There are literally tons of different products you can promote as an affiliate. Just spend time looking and I have no doubt that you’ll find products that will make sense for your blog.
Related posts to affiliate marketing:
- 13 High Paying Affiliate Marketing Programs That Will Make You Money
- 9 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers
- Make Quick Money With The Grammarly Referral Program
Don’t forget to check out those unique programs that no one ever thinks about like; eBay and Zazzle. It takes time to test things out and see what works best for you.
If you need a more in-depth course to help you understand how to make money with affiliate marketing, don’t forget to check out the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course. It’s an in-depth course and perfect for beginners.
Promoting eBooks
When you start writing your own ebooks, you can promote them directly on Pinterest. I’ve written a few eBooks and promote them on my blog and I’ve also created some pins that link directly to the sales page.
Yes, I also link directly to my eBooks on the Amazon marketplace. Even if you haven’t written any of your own eBooks, you’ve probably purchased some since working on your blog.
If you have taken some courses or purchased some eBooks. It’s worth finding out if they have an affiliate program. If they do apply and start creating your own pins to promote them for free.
Can I Promote Products I Don’t Use?
I’ve seen people promote things that they’ve never used. I used to think this was kind of shady, but people do it all the time. It’s going to be easier to promote something that you have first-hand knowledge with.
If you haven’t purchased any eBooks or courses yet then find the bestsellers in your niche and start reading every review you can. If it has a ton of positive reviews, it may be worth promoting.
As affiliate marketers, you can’t buy every product that you want to promote. Otherwise, you’d go broke trying to promote it. Whenever someone buys something online, they do their due diligence before buying.
If you would buy the product but just don’t have the money, then I guess it’s alright to promote it. Just remember, that your name is on the line if you start promoting a bunch of junk.
Where to Get Products I Can Promote?
The easiest way to get a bunch of products you can promote is the Ultimate Bundles sale. These sales come around several times per year and are filled with tons of resources for a one-time low price.
For example, I’ve purchased two of the Genius Bloggers kit which happens every Fall. I purchased the first one for $97 and got over $5,000 worth of products for a low price. The second one, I purchased for $47 because I am an affiliate.
Yup, you get a discount if you become an affiliate. You can sign up as an affiliate here and never pay full price again. Do you see where I’m going with this?
- You can get tons of products you can vouch for and promote with confidence in your niche.
- Become an affiliate and get these resources cheaper and have tons of products you can promote and make money with.
It’s genius and you’ll never have to pay full price for your eBooks or courses again.
The sales happen every fall and you’ll find:
I’ll be sure to update this when the sales go live again.
Can You Promote Etsy Affiliate Links on Pinterest?
Unfortunately no, you can’t. People used to promote printables, bullet journals, worksheets, invitations and clothing and the sales were completely passive.
If you read their terms and service you will notice that they don’t allow affiliate links to be shared on Pinterest.
Social Media and Sharing
Affiliates can only post links on social media feeds that they operate with their website URL, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. They are not permitted to promote on social sharing sites such as Tumblr and Pinterest.
How To Get Around This?
You can still promote your Etsy shop, but you’ll have to create a blog post to send them to first. Just create blog posts that review your Etsy products and instead of linking your Etsy link on Pinterest, you’re linking your blog post to your pin.
So when someone clicks through your pin, they land on your blog post. They’ll then click on your product review links and get taken to your Etsy shop.
It’s very easy and while it may cut down on your sales, this allows you to still promote your Etsy products. You can join the Etsy affiliate program by signing up for either Awin.com or ShareSale.com.
Does Amazon Allow Affiliate Links on Pinterest
Are you an Amazon Associate? If so then you’re going to love the fact that you can link directly to any Amazon product directly from Pinterest.
At one point they didn’t allow it, but now you can. This can be a quick way to make those first 3 sales you need to make before they deactivate your Amazon Associates account.
You can read their full terms and service here.
Disclosures on Pinterest
Just like you need to have disclosures on your blog, you need them on your pins. It’s easy all you need to do is add #affiliate or #afflink to your pin descriptions. If you neglect to do so, you could get banned from Pinterest or even face legal actions.
I’ve seen people who link directly to a course landing page don’t disclose that it’s an affiliate link. I’m not sure if that’s legal or not because they are sending the traffic to a landing page?
Honestly, I’d rather be safe than sorry, but that’s just me.
Do Pinterest Boards Allow Affiliate Links?
One of the best ways to start getting your affiliate links out there is to join Group boards. I’ve seen so many people promoting affiliate pins in group boards.
Just know that it’s not as easy to join group boards like it used to be in the past. If you can’t get any responses when you reach out to them, start submitting them to Tailwind Tribes.
Before you start promoting your affiliate pins, make sure that you read all the rules and regulations of the Tribes. Some of them say no affiliate links allowed.
Don’t get banned from the Tribes for not obeying the rules. You can sign up for your free Trial of Tailwind here.
Creating A Board Specifically for Affiliate Links
Another thing that I’ve seen some people do is create their own Pinterest Boards that have nothing but affiliate links.
I’m not sure if this will work, you probably need a lot of followers for this to work. But who knows you’ll never know unless it you test it out.
Start Promoting Your Pins
The cool thing about this method is that you can join reputable affiliate networks and get your links out on Pinterest and create passive income without creating content for your blog.
You’ll learn a lot about how to use this system by investing in the eBook. I get it though, there’s always something to buy when you’re trying out a new strategy.
You can always listen to the Simple Pin Podcast to help you learn how to use Pinterest. When you’ve tried everything and still haven’t made a sale, you can come back and invest in the eBook.
The book costs $25 and while it sounds like a lot, you can make that back with 1-2 affiliate sales. I was able to make the money back in about 2 months. But I didn’t put as much effort to the strategy as I should have.
You can pick up the book here: Affiliate Sale in 24 Hours eBook
Final Take Away
It can get exciting creating pins and make money without writing blog posts. I don’t recommend relying 100% on Pinterest.
You never know when they’ll change their algorithm and all your affiliate pins will get banned. So use the method to get some pins out there with your links.
But put your head down and write content that you control. Focus on growing your blog and then you’ll have passive income coming in from several sources.
